Hello

I began the 800 diet yesterday and have been looking in Dr Mosley’s book and on this site for alternatives for people who don’t eat meat like me, and also to see how vegans can go about it. In my case I cannot have lactose either and for decades have not had any dairy at all.

So, it would be great if any of you here can point me towards anything I’ve missed in these respects or solutions you’ve tried that work. After 2 breakfasts, lunches and dinners so far it’s not been a problem – but do I use Quorn pretend chicken fillets for example and not compromise the diet…

Thanks form a newbie 🙂

I am veggo. I do have some dairy in my diet (mainly cheeses, but do have a splash of milk in my coffee). I have been eating lots of salads, and recently started adding some Tofurky to things, just to change up the flavour. I cannot have Quorn as I have a rather nasty reaction to it (very violent vomiting), so just stick to whole foods.
I am a fat veggo because of the amount of breads and sugars I ate, so this was the main thing for me and this diet was getting that out of it.

Yeh, bread and biscuits, cakes, pasta… they all made me fat too. I was thinking that as I wasn’t eating fat from meat etc I would be healthy, but no way and the cholesterol was getting higher and higher. Marinating some tofu again for tonight’s meal. Now I’ve got more familiar with this diet I’m managing – there are lots of veggie advice elsewhere I’ve now discovered in the forums. Think if you search for vegetarian you’ll find them. Still think the book could usefully include meat free options but the meals are very good for all the other sources of protein anyway. Tried some lactose free cheese in an omelette earlier and realise for years I have not been focusing on feeding myself properly. The book is helping me in many different ways.

Try the Peace and Parsnips cookbook ….

Thanks, I like the sound of that.

Peace & parsnips is a great cook book.
Good fats in avocado, tahini, protein in tempeh, mixed bean and lentil combinations will give ‘whole’ proteins. Being vegie vegan is a great way of learning to cook with flavour using Indian cook books can give really nice flavours though the fat content does need watching.

Hi Auntylil,

Thanks for starting this post.

I am a pesco-vegetarian and have been vego/vegan in one guise or another for 33 years. It was only when I became vegan at the age of 24 that I gained 10kg! I believe it was due to the shift to eating a high carb diet (albeit mostly wholegrain and low GI) where 55 to 75% of my calories came from carbs (including vegetables and legumes). Whenever I reduce my carbs dramatically, I lose weight.

I started eating (sustainable) fish a year ago in order to combat the number of carbs I eat. I also started eating a handful of nuts a day and upped my consumption of cheese. I’ve always eaten full fat products as I’ve never subscribed to the low-fat doctrine, which thankfully in recent times, has been turned on its head (e.g. The French Paradox).

I have been substituting all of the chicken recipes in the book with Quorn fillets which works well.

Thanks to a suggestion from another BSDer on another thread, I have purchased Rose Elliot’s The Vegetarian Low Carb Diet and Cookbook and also Celia Brooks’ Low Carb & Gluten Free Cookbook and her 5:2 Vegetarian for maintenance once the 8 week ends (Brooks is a fan of the 5:2 diet).

Cheers.

Good to read your post – I’m also a fan of Rose Elliott. Lots of what you write I can relate to.

I find food a bit of a challenge for various reasons – we all do I guess – for me it’s that I can’t do dairy as I was born lactose intolerant and I don’t seem able to digest fat too well. Mushrooms, Miso and Soy Sauce have given me some problems too but although I’m not rigidly adhering to the diet it has lead to me eating sensibly and more healthily and I hope to resume soon. I’m resting on 1000 calories approx. this week and next as my blood pressure dropped and gp suspects pernicious aneamia to complicate matters. Perhaps the 5:2 diet will prove more suitable.

As I’m not pre- diabetic or diabetic I have to work things out re: adapting the diet. I aim to lose 3 stone. Buying a bread-maker last year was my undoing. Last week I got a copy of Peace and Parsnips and wholeheartedly recommend it if you haven’t got it. I like Quorn fillets too and I will eat fish occasionally, usually salmon.

I am disappointed I couldn’t sustain the momentum of the first two weeks, I was very happy at first. It seems to be working extremely well for a lot of people and I wish for you a happy & healthy outcome – it takes guts to treat our guts this well!

Hi auntylil – I’m not vegetarian but I do have quite a lot of meat /fish free meals. (not vegan though)

For breakfast I enjoy avocado or grilled portobello mushroom & poached egg, or yogurt and berries with chia seeds, scrambled eggs , omelette etc
For lunches I make a lot of soup – todays was Brussel sprout and Butternut squash which was surprisingly good (I used to make this with chestnuts which are too high carb now so swapped for Butternut squash), but also tomato, spicy butternut squash, carrot and courgette, spinach, beetroot, lentil etc. I tend to make a couple of pots at the weekend, then divide into portions and freeze. That means I can mix up and have a different kind each day – either in a flask or a clip mug if I have access to a microwave. Other options are cottage cheese or hummus with salad – I make sure I have lots of variety in salad including peppers, radishes, capers, gherkins, olives etc.
In the evening I’ve had veg frittatas, spicy bean burgers (from the book), veg chilli, ratatouille etc. Feta, goats cheese or mozzarella is a nice addition if you can eat cheese.

I like the look of the mushroom risotto in the book – made with cauliflower rice but I haven’t tried it yet.

I’ve discovered coconut water which I love as a treat and have been trying soya/ almond milks as a change from dairy, not too keen on them so far. Good luck

I would like
vegetarian and vegan plans pls

I have been a vegetarian for a long time (over 50 years!) and overweight for most of it. Getting enough carbs out of the diet is the trick. I have greatly reduced root vegetables and legumes as well as the obvious rice, potatoes and pasta. I have lost 17lbs in 5 weeks on the 800 diet (in addition to another 14lb since 1st January.)
The cook books suggested above are all great. would also suggest you take a look at a few recipe bloggers such as the sprouted kitchen (she has a great cook book called bowl and spoon and most of the recipes are adaptable to vegan.)
I have been having fun creating some Low GI Low Carb meals – my favourite at the moment are:
Cabbage Stir fry with Tofu and peanut sauce
very quick and simple: stir fried tofu (marinated in tamari), onion and thinly shredded cabbage when almost cooked add in any combination of chilli, garlic, coriander, 100% peanut butter and coconut milk.
Hazelnut salad
roasted red pepper (peeled and cut into strips), steamed mange tout and asparagus, mixed in bowl with some roasted chopped hazelnuts and serve warm with hazelnut oil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing, baby salad leaves and tofu or halloumi (for those that eat cheese.)
Courgetti, Mushrooms and spinach
stir fry onion, garlic and some mushrooms. add in spiralised courgettes and when almost cooked ad in Boursin cheese and some cream (use vegan equivalents if required.)

Maybe we all ought to compile a cook book of vegetarian/vegan meals for those following the 800!
Hope this helps with some ideas and do let us know how you are doing. good luck everyone.

I agree with M, Rose Elliots books are good for this and easy to adapt. There is also her book low GI Cooking which I have used. Made one of her recipes last night which I think will also work for vegan – Chunky Ratatouille. I will post it to the recipe section tomorrow. Anyhow, it makes enough of one evening meal and 5 for the freezer.

Thanks for all your support.
what do u all hv thru the day
breakfast
lunch
dinner
And any warm drinks like tea/coffee
nuts and fats?

Hi Smita, I was in the process of posting the ratatouille recipe on the recipe site – properly attributed to Rose Elliot, when I noticed that I had to submit it stating that is was all my own work and would not infringe anyone’s copyright. I believe I had attributed it correctly and it is now on the internet in the public domain, but decided not to take the risk. Pity – I took some nice photos!
The link is http://www.roseelliot.com/catalogue_item.php?catID=2033&prodID=10994. I add a tin of cannelloni beans to that, 10 minutes before the end. I also add 15g parmesan per person once served.
There are two variations – one juicy, replace the tomatoes with tinned tomatoes; the other spicy, replace the basil and add a 1-2 tsp of cumin seed and 1-2 of crushed coriander seeds.
I made the cumin seed one last night plus a tin of canellloni beans. Depending on the sizes of the different vegetables varies the calories and portions. I have split it into 6 and add parmesan for added protein. Calories per portion 168, protein 6g; fat 7.6g; carbs 20g. Add on 15g of parmesan if using, calories 58; protein 5g; fat 4g; carbs 58g.
It takes 15 minutes prep time and 30-40 minutes in the oven. Freezes well.

It’s been a while since anyone posted here, but I just found it and there are some great ideas for veggies, especially Ms’ courgette stir fry with boursin cheese, sounds delish.

I am not a good cook so these simple ideas are very helpful, thanks. You mention a book M, yes or a thread with just veggie/vegan recipes and quick ideas would be great, all in one place. They have similar on the Mumsnet Bootcamp low carb with separate thread for recipes.

I only tried eating low carb once before and gave up quite soon through boredom with limited food I was eating. The answer is to keep finding new things and keep the interest going. I have just had some fried halloumi with fried tomatoes, and a green salad with a little balsamic vinegar – so tasty and lovely and quick.

Hope you are all doing well still.

Hi barby,
have you had a look through the recipe section on the website? There are some interesting ones their, but you have to check the calories and carbs per portion for the amounts you used.
The halloumi sounds good, I am always wary of it as with the calories, it always seemed I would have to have too small amount to keep me full. I have some in the fridge I bought for this diet so I really should try it now!

Yes thanks Orchid I have looked at the recipes section. I have just logged Halloumi on My Fitness Pal and it is high in cals but low in carbs. 391 cals 31 fat 1 carb for half a pack (4 slices) but was sooo good.

I am just trying to find a nice soup recipe for tea, need to stay low cal for rest of day. I know Bill and some others just count carbs, but I daren’t do that as I’d eat a ot of cals with cheese etc.

Hope you enjoy yours.

Hi All,
Posted another vego/vegan recipe today, makes quite a large meal for low cal/ carb count. It might be a bit heavy on the chilli for some people so be warned 🙂
It’s called Salt n Pepper Tofu stir fry.

Thanks Cherrianne – that looks really good. I have a 200g block of tufu in the fridge, that would make 4 portions. When I used it last, I did a stir-fry, enough for one meal then forgot about the rest of it and it had to be thrown out. With most things I make 4 (or more) portions and freeze for later days. From memory, tofu does not freeze well…. have you every managed to freeze tofu?

I have frozen it when I’ve had it soaking in marinade and that works ok, I’ve also frozen the tofu pillows. Haven’t tried freezing this one though. Tempeh can be frozen.
For the stir fry recipe, I experimented with what I had in the fridge and cupboard then weighed everything out. I thought I was making enough for two portions but when it was ready it made 3 fairly generous serves. I photographed one plate then took it through to ask my husband if he thought it was enough food. He asked to taste test and ended up demolishing the lot! This was at two in the afternoon and he was still too full at 6.30 to eat any dinner lol.
So I guess that answered my question 🙂
I think it will keep in the fridge for a couple of days. I have a portion left but have kept the tofu in a separate air tight container so it stays crispy.

Thanks Cherrianne. That is a good idea to keep the tofu separate to keep it crisp, I will try that in future. I will also try some Tempeh as I know our local health food shop usually keeps it.

Has anyone tried baking tofu and tempeh? They dry out and crisp up in about half an hour. You can use a tiny bit of fat, then add soy sauce for last few minutes to caramelise. Easy and delicious.

Mmmm sounds yummy Jane, definitely will give that a try. Would be delicious in a laksa.
I’m experimenting with making an African peanut stew to get it low carb/ cal. Will post a recipe once I’m happy with it. It will be a vegan/ vego version.

You could use tamari instead of soy sauce for it to be gluten free. I fry sunflower seeds in a couple of teaspoons of tamari. Store in an airtight jar and sprinkle a few over soup or salad for a crunchy, salty tasty topping.

Hi, yes I meant tamari (it used to be known as dark soy). Cut the tofu/tempeh into bite sized pieces and bake at gas 5 or 6.

If you do that with sunflower and sesame seeds (fry with tamari) then grind, it’s a great seasoning. Has a name but I can’t remember it.

Oh I didn’t realise that. Thought I had invented it lol 🙂
I enjoy the crunchy saltiness though so probably wouldn’t grind it.

You did 🙂
But someone else did too.

Cherrieanne, these are lovely. I am making another pot of the Creamy Cauliflower Soup from the recipe pages – and thought these would be nice on top. So I dry fried (lightly toasted) the sunflower seeds (10g) and added 1tsp tamati sauce – they are scrumptious :-). I then tried it again with pumpkin seeds, this time I sprayed a little oil in the pan first then repeated as above. They work as well – now some crunch for my soup.
thank-you!

Hi just found a free Kindle book, for Indian Vegan recipes, Haven’t read much, but some of the recipes look good and possible on this regime.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vegan-Essential-Cookbook-vegetarian-intolerance-ebook/dp/B017SWL46Q?ie=UTF8&ref_=zg_bs_341689031_f_93

Thanks Barby. I’ve just downloaded the Indian vegan cookbook and will have a good look at the recipes. I love Indian food and was vegan for ages. I’ve just had trouble trying to do low carb with vegan meals. Too many beans and lentils and I get hungry too soon. Also miss the rice to soak up the delicious spicy gravies. Thanks for letting us know. It’s free, you can’t lose.

Hi I am going to start the diet this week but was worried as I am a vegetarian . Glad that I saw this forum as it has given me hope that I can do the diet . I have ordered some of the cookbooks mentioned on the thread x it does look a little overwhelming having to count every item even salad ingredients though! I have been told I am pre diabetic and my doctor says I have to get weight down – 4 stone to lose which I put on in last six years! My old doctor wanted to put me on medication even though I have not got diabetes yet! Glad I can substitute quorn for chicken and I eat Greek yoghurt daily anyway so a good start . This seems like a great forum and good advice x

Hi all. I’ve been following the bsd for 10 days and have lost 4lb eating around 1000-1100 calories per day. I do struggle to get down to 800. I’m prob not deemed overweight (start weight 10 stones height 5’4) but I am sick of my diet/food controlling my life and I am really sick of feeling so lethargic and tired. I can’t believe how well I am feeling just a few days after changing my diet. I’m not starving which is one of my major issues that I’ve developed over my 30 years as a dieter (I’m 46 now) and my energy levels are improving. Here is a bit of an idea of what I’m eating as a vegan (mainly vegan tbh);
Breakfast; soy protein 70 cals with coco milk 50 cals and whole earth peanut butter 130 cals = 250 cals
Lunch; home made veg soup (onion, celeriac, carrots, cabbage, Brussels, stock,) or tomato soup (roast toms, carrots, leek in the oven until soft and then blend adding stock and seasoning such as basil, ginger, cumin, coriander) – each soup serving is approx 100, which I have with salad 50 cals with olives 100 cals and avocado 100-150 = 250-300 cals. Total lunch 350-400.
Dinner; homemade Thai curry (onion, broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, butternut squash, carrot, courgettey spaghetti), stir fry and add a tin of coconut milk with some Thai green curry paste, add cherry toms towards end of cooking to let them just soften – approx 300 cals per serving (makes at least 3 servings) or
butternut squash (bns) stew – stir fry onion, cubed bns, chopped peppers until bns soft. Add 2x tins of chopped tomatoes, mix peanut butter (60-70g) with stock (between 1-1.5 litres) and simmer until bns cooked. Add ginger, cumin, chilli powder to taste – approx 300 cals per serving (makes at least 4 servings or
Black bean burgers – drain tin of bb’s but retain some liquid and do not rinse. Mix in food processor with breadcrumbs (I use 1 slice of hovis seed sensations) and shape into four patties then place in the fridge for at least an hour before frying in coconut oil. You can also add in shredded carrots or courgette any veg really when mixing. Each patties inc oil is approx 200 cals. I have them with veg or salad.
Snacks – I have Brazil nuts almonds in the afternoon – approx 30g which is around 200 cals.

Hope this helps – good luck everyone!

Hi rachluvbhg,
I have also noticed a change in energy levels. I rarely now fall asleep in the evening watching TV and having been on some courses recently, I am no longer finding myself struggling mid afternoon to keep awake!
Thanks for the recipe suggestions and good luck keeping to the food plan.

Hi. I’m just about to start the diet. Need to do someone about my weight and general health.

I’m a vegan am wondering how tricky this will be.
Can I have soya/ almond milk/tofu/quinoa on this diet?

Thank you

Hi Nedds mum – yes to soya/almond milk/tofu. Quinoa is quite high in carbs, but you could use it in small amounts. The key is to count the calories and carbs in everything you consume. Keep calories to 800 and carbs around the 50g mark per day. Try to favour above ground veggies, as many root veg are high in carbs.
Hope it goes well for you, we will be interested to read your results soon, but meanwhile shout if you need any advise or support as there is bound to be someone willing to respond.

I’m also looking for some good veggie meals for BSD. I found lentil dishes amazing, high in protein and low calorie but also tasty and filling. There are some great recipes in the Fast Diet Recipe book.

Great thread!
Thanks for the ideas. Put the books in my Amazon.ca wishlist and think i will get Peace and Parsnips to start.
I try and put lentils in everything i can. Does it matter if you use the really tiny ones or the ‘French puy lentils??
p.s. I love the Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla!!! The refridgerated one is even a tad better. ‘Tried other almond milks but hated them. 40 calories, 2 g. carb. for 240 ml. on my label. The sweetened ones taste awful to me. Can even make them coffee flavored with just a quarter teaspoon of instant coffee. Maybe can only get in Canada.

Hi Nedds mum,
Welcome on board and yes you can follow this diet as a vegan, but it is more challenging to keep to low carbs, and the recipes in the BSD book are few and far between. I am vegetarian and have been following the principles of the plan since the beginning of February (with a few breaks) and have just reached my goal. If you normally cook from scratch and are used to adapting recipes then this won’t be a challenge from that aspect.
Concentrate on the 800 calories a day and follow the principles set out in the BSD book. I have lost weight consistently on about 60g carb a day. I find that to get the protein I need from veg, dairy and pulses I need that level of carbs. Also – below that and I get sever cramps at night. Clearly you won’t be using dairy – but almond milk and soya products are fine. There is a possible reason why veggie and vegans do not need to go so low in carbs and that is because nearly all of our carbs come from complex carbs which are full of fibre and some people say that you can take off the fibre count from the carbs and that is the real carbs for those foods. I’ve ignored that and concentrated on the 800 cals a day and only if my carbs were going to be above 60g then I cut down the calories.
I make a lot of soup and use lentils and beans plus a couple of veg – eg carrot, onion and a white bean or my current favourite is tomato butterbean soup. Both are very filling, but around 20g carbs for a bowlful and that is lunch.
The biggest change that I had to make was to adjust to ignoring the low-fat mantra. Add olive oil to everything for flavour, it helps fill you up! One of the tests MM did in last years Trust me I’m a Doctor was on the benefits to the heart and circulatory system of 20mls per day olive oil (not cooked) to the diet. I started taking that about 6 weeks ago and that upped my calories to 900-950 a day, however the carbs did not go up. I carried on losing weight (1-2kg a week as normal).
The recipe for chick-pea flatbreads is great (https://thebloodsugardiet.com/recipes/chickpea-flour-pancakes/). You can also make a thicker batter and make them 6-7inches across, but .5cm thick. They act as a great pizza base. The thinner ones are fine to fold with fillings. I never managed to get less that 8 out of the mixture so again, it is higher in carbs (18g per serving) so you do need the higher carbs. Avocado humus is also a useful recipe for lunch, I think I got it from the BSD book, but if not ten any search engine will find a recipe for it. A chunky ratatouille (Rose Elliot, online) is another of my standbys – makes 8 and 7 go in the freezer.
Good luck and let us know how you get on. I am happy to answer other questions if you have them.

Wow. Thanks for the replies. So helpful. I started the plan today. I have come to bed feeling very grumpy and my head is banging!
Could this be happening as I’m not consuming carbs/sugar? Until last night I consumed a ridiculous amount.

Have weighed myself and am up for the 8 week plan…just hope I can do it!

Thanks again for the replies. Just what I needed to read at this moment. X

Yes Nedds mum, the headaches is most probably carb withdrawal and is very common early on. Don’t be afraid to take some painkillers if you need to and be assured that this phase will pass and you will start to feel fit and vital, instead of grumpy and headachy.
Sure you will manage to stay the course, use the forum for advise and support and it will help to buoy you up when the going gets tough.
Good luck!

Thank you so much for your reply.

Less headachy this afternoon as been consciously drinking more water.

Hope you don’t mind but I have a few more questions…

Can I eat dark 85% choc. (4 chunks a day!) ?

Are porridge oats acceptable?

How much protein should I be consuming? Finding it hard as a vegan. I was obviously ‘filling up’ on carbs before starting this.

More positive today…I’m 1.75 days through! And haven’t reached for a biscuit or crisp. Happy days.

Hi Neddsmum,
ask away – there are lots of people who will be happy to help!
Protein – 40-45g per day is the recommended amount of protein for a woman. You should also be targeting 5 potions of fruit and veg a day at 80g per portion. Like you, I filled up with carbs and a quick meal was a large bowl of pasta with oil and herbs or worse still, tomato sauces out of a jar. You will likely need 60g carbs so you can get the protein from nuts, seeds and veg – but if you are good at cooking soya products like tofu – they are a quick protein hit with minimal carbs and a good amount of fat that helps keep you feeling full.
It is easier if you use some kind of app to monitor your foods, but a spreadsheet or paper will do.
Weighing everything is the most important first step followed by recording it. It is tedious, but it does slow you down getting at food it you are weakening :-).
For the chocolate – so long as it is part of your 800 cals per day, then fine, but I would suggest you cut it down to one square. I had been having a cup of cocoa (85%) for breakfast and supper for about a year and did not want to stop that, it was 5g cocoa powder and boiling water so that was 17cals, 1g protein, 1g fat and .5 carb morning and night from my daily allowance. At the end of the day you need to be retraining yourself for the future, and if a square of chocolate stops you going for other things then fine – it is part of a Mediterranean diet anyway!
Oats – hmmmm, well that is more contentious. I’ve written a few times on that one (https://thebloodsugardiet.com/forums/topic/breakfast-guidance-please/#post-21083). Most importantly – if you want to eat oats, use rolled or steelcut oats not processed. Also – use in moderation it is good carbs, but not that slow to release carbs. If you are diabetic, then you need to test if they make your blood sugars spike. Some people can tolerate them, others cannot.
Personally, I avoided them but am now reintroducing them with oat cakes.
For snacks – have you seen ITSU seaweed ‘crisps’? Slices of seaweed and salt. My favourite is wasabi flavours. It does not say suitable for vegans on the label so you would need to check the contents yourself. 22 cals per packet and 2g protein. You can get them at Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.
hope that helps

Glad you are feeling less headachy, drinking more has obviously helped.

Dark Choc is allowed, but I would have thought 4 chunks is perhaps a bit much. Could you cope on just two? And be sure to count the calories and if you are doing it, carbs as well. I look to keep carb at 50g or under per day, but I don’t track protein intake. There are apps some people use, which gives guidance on all aspects of daily intake, but I have found tracking calories and carbs enough to keep my on track and losing, so don’t feel the need to make things more complicated.

Some people on the forum are using porridge oats. I personally think they are too carb heavy, but use them if you need to, keeping portions fairly small and counting cals of course (and carbs if you are doing this). It must be difficult on the BSD being vegan, as it knocks out the usual protein sources. Tesco stock a range of vegetable protein powders – have used the Hemp one. That could be a way to boost your protein intake without adding too many carbs. It can be added to shakes, mixed in with soy yogurt etc.

Hope at least some of this is helpful – good luck!

the other thing with oats is to soak them overnight – I don’t understand the technical process, but it improves the GI – also it makes them milky and sweet (think oat milk) – so you don’t need additional carbs for any milk with them, or to add sweetener. Most packs recommend 30g as a portion size, which seemed small to me at first, but I soon reduced it to 25g and found them filling. Be careful of adding too much fruit as well.

As orchid said, there are quite a lot of threads on porridge already – if you want to check on something like that, using the search box in the top right hand corner will usually find you a wealth of previous answers to similar questions.

Thanks for all the advice. I’ll take a look at the other threads.

Have any of you had a ‘bad’ day and strayed from the plan but managed to get back on the straight and narrow?!

This is where I have failed in the past and don’t want to repeat mistakes. Thanks.

Sorry – realise this isn’t vegan related. I’ll definitely look on other threads!

Hi Nedds mum, yes, yes and yes, I doubt anyone on the forum will tell you otherwise. You will need a couple of days to settle into an eating pattern and once you have worked out what you can and can’t eat, you start finding it is not hard, and a lot of what you can eat tastes great. When you have a bad day, then so what – forget about it and tomorrow is another day.
The thing about this plan is once you have worked it out – it is fast. You work in 8 weeks stints, and if one day went not great that week, well it is one day in 7 and you are still likely to lose at least 2 lbs that week.
I lost 11 percent of my starting weight in the first 8 weeks – and there were a few bad days in there, but the progress was measured by weekly weighing and measuring and plotting the weight on a graph. Most people will lost between 10 and 20% depending on what they have to lose (the higher percentages for those with most to lose) and in 10 weeks. The motivation from that level of progress makes the bad days easily forgotten and getting back on the wagon easy – that and the forum.
Tell people if it is a bad day and they will try to help, shout if you are fed up and ask questions as often as you need.
This forum kept me on track and motivated, it is the USP of this plan.

Orchid is right Nedds Mum, we all stray occasionally – we are only human. The secret is not to waste time beating yourself up about it, but rather, to refocus and move on. I too have found the forum invaluable for support and encouragement when things have got tough and I have really struggled. It is a real boost to be able to have a bit of a rant here and not be judged for messing up and receive kind words and advise – it is empowering.
Anyway, we will hopefully be reading your positive results soon – good luck.

Thank you lovely people.
I’m not deliberately straying, I just haven’t got to grips with it yet. I thought being a vegan would make it easy but it does t really. It’s certainly made me realise how much carb/sugar I was consuming
Have decided that for the first week I am going to cut out the processed carbs/ large amounts of chocolate and biscuits and hope that it will ease me in gently. I haven’t started counting calories/carbs yet (to be honest that seems like a minefield to me!) until my body has adjusted to not eating rubbish.
Am on third day and it’s going quite well. Had a couple of wobbles. Have taken your advice and only been angry with myself for minutes then ‘moved on’.

Weighed myself on Monday morning and will do so again next week, so if I have lost weight that may spur me on to continue. Fingers crossed…

Thanks again

Hi,
I’m a vegetarian and did the full on BSD800 earlier this year after a diabetic diagnosis. It’s so easy to eat loads of carbs when you don’t eat meat.
I gave up sugar first which was the hardest bit.
Then I did 3 weeks counting carbs and calories and it was hard but I lost 1.5 stone. I only stopped because I was starting to sag everywhere so decided to take things more slowly.
Since then I just keep to low carbs with occasional treats and haven’t put anything back on. My blood sugar’s in the safe range for diabetics and I’ve never had to resort to meds:) Hurrah to Mr Mosley and this forum. I also sleep much better, don’t get indigestion and don’t snore!
My tips are: eat lots of lentils and pulses; have occasional treats- xylitol is great for sweetening low carb cakes- tastes better than stevia and is good for your teeth; never eat white flour or rice. If you overdo it one day, it really doesn’t matter. I have switched from wine to gin with light FeverTree tonic as I don’t want to start on nasty chemicals in ‘diet’ goods. And eat lots of avocado and nuts! Fat is your friend. Oh yes, walk everywhere and do yoga or pilates. You don’t need to push yourself physically unless you really want to.
Enjoy.

Hi Nedds mum,
When I started I had read the book the week before I officially started and started logging what I was eating that week. That gave me a week to adjust to the feeling of ‘oh no, I can’t have that’ and ‘how do I ‘manage’ etc. I also started in shakes (not to be recommended) as a way of getting going, getting used to eating less and ease of managing portions and cals. I had 3 shakes per day plus a home made soup or veg. I did lose weight in the first couple of weeks – almost inevitable that you do on 800 cals, but I noticed all the weight was coming off of my hips and not my waist as per the expectation of getting rid of visceral fat. The issue turned out to be the shakes, I had purchased a standard brand (not the one the Newcastle project used as you can’t get it over the counter in the UK) and when I looked at the nutritional values, – yes, it was full of sugar – low fat – ie use skimmed milk, and 200 cals, but my carb intake was 120g per day. I then went onto making my own food and the inches came off my waist plus BS went down!
So – yes – take time to adjust especially as a vegan. Don’t worry about the carbs unless you spot you are eating lots of sugars, or refined carbs. I made a small change a week initially and over the first 10 weeks lost my 33.2 lbs and dropped 2 dress sizes.
As Jane says lentils and pulses are good, but in moderation. Adding in soya – tofu is the best way to keep the protein up without the carbs. I also stuck to a limited set of foods and did not start experimenting until later. My breakfast was full fat yoghurt (60g), blueberries (30g), plus 3 g each of pumpkin seeds, linseeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, This is a muesli without the oats. In your case, I just looked up the nutritional composition of Alpro Almond Yoghurt and it would replace the dairy yoghurt I used and be lower in cals! you can use hazelnuts for the nuts instead of almonds since you would use the almond yoghurt. I found it to be very filling.
Good luck.